Yankee dryers comprise large-scale drums, typically formed of cast iron, which are internally heated with pressurized steam and used to dry paper webs at the end of a paper-making line. These drums which expand and contract with the steam heat carry the moisture-containing paper web partway around their circumference to a take-off point marked by a blade which acts to separate the paper web from the drum for collection on a take-up roll. Yankee dryer drums are subject to wear from friction, i.e. tribological wear, and from chemical wear or erosion caused by chemical action, e.g. by chloride, fluoride and sulfite ion interactions with the drum surface as a concomitant of papermaking operations. Surface imperfections such as surface roughness then develop and this causes the separation blade to wear prematurely and irregularly and the paper quality is adversely affected. To avoid this, the yankee dryer drums must be periodically reground and repolished as surface imperfections become significant. Resurfacing of the dryer by grinding and polishing is costly in downtime, lost paper production, and in charges for overhaul of the dryer drum surface.